All the Right Notes (Liam Payne - One Direction)
by Lusa107
Summary: Laura has just started to make a name for herself as a song writer when she gets an unexpected phone call from a certain famous boy band. They want her to work with them on a new project and soon she finds herself spending all of her time with them. Not that's she's complaining...especially as she finds herself becoming more and more attracted to Mr Liam Payne.
1. The Phone Call

Hello?" Laura answered her phone without even bothering to look at the number.

"Is that Laura?"

She stopped trying to ram items back into her bag and sat up straight. "Yes – who's this?" She pulled the phone away from her ear to glance quickly at the number. She didn't recognize it and sighed a little. Who had got her phone number now?

"It's Harry – Harry Styles. I hope you don't mind – I asked Callum for your number."

Laura did another double take at the number on her phone. Harry Styles? One Direction's Harry Styles? She heard his voice again and quickly put her phone back to her ear.

"Laura? Are you still there?"

"Yes – sorry. Hi, Harry."

"You didn't mind me getting your number?" Harry's voice sounded anxious (and a little bit sexy because of it!).

"No, of course not. Are you okay?"

"Yes fine, thanks. What about you?"

"I'm great – what is it I can do for you?" Laura asked. She sat down at her dining room table, her concentration now entirely on her phone call. So, she knew a few famous people through her brother who was really making a name for himself as a producer. He'd recently opened his own record label and had new people signed on every day. Laura had helped Callum a lot along the way and she was building up quite a catalogue of songs that she'd written. It worked really well – she wrote a song – Callum got an artist interested and then either signed them up or if they were already signed – he might just produce the record for them.

Three of Laura's songs had been chart hits – one hitting the top spot, so she'd finally been able to give up her day job in a large office and concentrate full time on her song writing. She had now started receiving invites to various shows and awards and meeting celebrities was becoming a regular thing for her.

Not that receiving a personal phone call from Harry Styles wasn't still impressive. She wasn't that blasé about her new life yet!

"Well, I'm ringing for a favour…actually several favours…" Harry's gave a little chuckle.

"Sounds interesting…"

"We've been asked to do the single for Comic Relief, again! It's the first time anyone has been asked to do it twice," Harry explained. "It has to be amazing, obviously, after how well 'One Way or Another' did and because of our fame in America, they think it might be the biggest seller yet. This time they want an original song."

Laura smiled down the phone. "That's brilliant! How can I help?"

"We would like you to work with us to write it."

Laura almost dropped the phone and scrambled to stop it hitting the table. "You want me to write it?" she asked, incredulously. She heard Harry laugh at the other end of the phone.

"That is what you do, isn't it? Write songs?"

Laura smiled at herself. "Of course but you're putting a lot of trust in me, for a huge project like the Comic Relief single. It's not like I'm an established song writer or anything."

"We love your songs and not just the ones that have hit the charts. Callum played us some of your other stuff – it's great!" Harry coughed. "Will you consider it then?"

Laura nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Of course – I'm really glad you asked me."

Harry gave her a number to contact them on and said he'd hope to hear from her in a couple of days. Laura ended the call and then stared at her phone for a few moments. What the hell had just happened?

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""

She spent the next 48 hours almost entirely on her piano. This was pressure! She was going to say yes, of course she was! But before she did, she wanted to have an idea what to write. Not a proper song, of course because the boys had to be involved, but she wanted to have something prepared.

Once she was satisfied with her ideas, she rang the number that Harry had left her and waited, feeling a little apprehensive.

"One Direction Management – how may I help you?" A female, efficient sounding voice answered the phone and Laura cleared her throat.

"Errr…..would I be able to speak to Harry Styles, please?" she asked, feeling ridiculous even saying those words. She could almost hear the receptionist's response before she spoke.

"Well, can I ask what it's concerning, please?"

"He rang me a few days ago. I'm returning his call, I need to confirm something with him." Laura paused, not wanting to ramble.

"I see. We wouldn't usually be able to put you through, so maybe I could take your number and details?"

"Well, I suppose that would be okay," Laura hesitated. "If he's there, would you mind asking him if he'll take the call?" She didn't want to wait for a return call. Now she'd made up her mind, she wanted to get the ball rolling.

"I'm not sure who is here but I can check for you. Can I take your name please?" The receptionist was remaining polite but Laura could tell that she must have handled hundreds of phone calls just like this one and had become an expert at batting them away.

"Yes – it's Laura Caprice."

"Hold the line please."

Unsurprisingly, a One Direction song stared playing down the phone and Laura chuckled to herself. It seemed to take quite a while but she waited patiently until she heard the woman's voice again.

"Miss Caprice?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting; I'm putting you through now."

Laura sat up straight, surprised by the sudden positive response. Harry must have been there then! The One Direction song came on again for a few seconds before a male voice answered.

"Hello?" A male voice said. She could tell it wasn't Harry, though.

"Hi, I wanted to speak to Harry Styles. The receptionist put me through, this is Laura Caprice."

"Hey Laura – Harry isn't here. This is Liam."

Laura took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Now she was speaking to another member of the band, not that it really mattered who she spoke to…..

"Hi Liam," she said. "I was calling back about the Comic Relief single."

"Great!" she heard him say. His voice was deep and smooth and it sounded lovely, with a slight Midlands accent. "Well, it's great if you're saying you'll help us….." he joked.

Laura laughed, pleased with his friendly, easy-going response. "Yes – of course that's why I'm ringing. I'd love to write the song with you."

"We were a bit worried as you'd taken the full two days to get back to us," Liam said. Laura blinked rapidly, staring at a spot on the wall. There was something about Liam's voice that made her want to sigh.

"I'm sorry – I was always going to do it, but I wanted to prepare some material and ideas first….." she stopped, wondering if she was explaining unnecessarily.

"That's great news – we really wanted you to do it….."

Suddenly there was a noise on the phone and another voice spoke.

"Yeah! Bloody fantastic news! Thank you!"

Laura laughed again, not sure who this was on the phone now but enjoying their enthusiasm. "Thanks for asking me."

"I'll put you back to Li, but wanted to say how happy I am that you've agreed," the voice said. "Oh! This is Louis, by the way."

Laura was giggling now. "Thanks, Louis!"

"Excuse my crazy band mates," Liam's deep tone was back. "So, I'll tell the tech guys here and Paul. Someone will be in touch to arrange dates…"

Laura laughed again. "Really? I thought this was going to be a professional relationship."

She heard Liam chuckle and, for some explicable reason, she felt a small thrill. "I meant convenient dates for us to meet here and start writing but the other sort of date sounds better actually."

Laura felt like she hadn't stopped laughing since she'd got on the phone and she giggled again. "Sorry, you fed me the line….."

"Don't apologise. You'll need a sense of humour to work with us! I can't wait to meet you, Laura. It's been lovely speaking to you," Liam said.

"Oh, yes, me too…."

After she'd finished her conversation, she found herself re-running it in her head to the point that she was annoying herself. She decided that without having ever met them, that she really liked them already. Harry had been charming and sweet, Louis sounded crazy but lovely and Liam…she wasn't sure how to describe him, but she liked him the best. He'd been so easy going and he had spoken to her so kindly but with a sense of humour. She couldn't wait to meet them all.

**Chapter 2 up soon.**


	2. A New Team

Laura got out of the car, thanked the driver and carried her briefcase and bag towards the tall, narrow building. She entered the foyer and approached the desk.

"Hello, I have a meeting with Paul Higgins at One Direction Management."

The receptionist nodded. "Of course. Those offices are on the fifth floor, the lifts are behind the desk."

"Thank you."

When the lift doors opened on the fifth floor, Laura could see a small desk with a young woman sitting behind it. The offices were modern and bright with large windows.

"One Direction Management. How can I help you?" The receptionist answered a call and Laura recognized her voice from her phone call. After she'd put the call through she looked up at Laura and smiled.

"Good afternoon – do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, at 2pm with Paul Higgins."

"Laura?"

Laura nodded. "Yes."

"Yes, he's expecting you. I'll tell him you're here. If you'd like to take a seat?"

Laura did as instructed, feeling a little more nervous now. This was a big thing and as much as she needed to not be star struck, she couldn't help it.

"Laura?" Another voice came to her and she turned to see a man with short, black hair approaching her, his hand outstretched. "I'm Paul, it's lovely to meet you."

She shook his hand. "It's lovely to be here."

"Follow me – the boys are all here. What I thought we'd do today is get to know each other and maybe discuss some ideas. We can then take it from there."

Laura felt her heart beating far quicker than usual as she followed Paul along the corridor. She was going to meet One Direction – all of them! She followed him into a large room that was a mish mash of chairs, table, musical instruments and other bits and bobs. To one side she could see a darkened glass window through which she could just make out what looked like a very high tech studio.

"Take a seat – what would you like to drink?" Paul asked.

"Just water, please."

"I'll fetch the boys."

A few moments later the door from the studio was opened and Paul reappeared, followed by Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn. Laura bit her lip, wondering if she should stand or not. As Niall approached her, his hand outstretched, she found herself standing anyway, so that she could take his handshake. First impressions were always amusing, and when she looked back on her first meeting with One Direction, she found it hilarious that one of her first thoughts was how tall they were. They were young and somehow she'd imagined they would be small, both in height and build.

She was wrong, because even Niall, who was the shortest, was a lot taller than her and wide shouldered. The five of them seemed to fill the room!

"Hey, Laura!" Niall greeted her in his easy, friendly way. He grinned at her, his eyes sparkling and she couldn't help but grin back. "You look like your brother," he said.

"Really? Do you think so?"

"Yeah – better looking, obviously!" Niall grinned at his own joke and she laughed.

She shook hands with each of the boys in turn. Harry winked at her before shuffling his seat closer to hers. Zayn kissed her hand, his piercing dark eyes twinkling in his handsome face and Laura found herself laughing again. Louis grabbed her into a hug which left her a little ruffled. Liam simply shook her hand, smiling widely.

"Lovely to meet at last!" he said. He didn't immediately let go of her hand, his soft eyes looking at her gently.

Once they were all seated, Paul lead the conversation with the boys interrupting at various points. Laura let them all talk, taking it all in. What struck her immediately was how professional they all were. There was no doubt that these boys knew how to have fun. There was also no doubt that they probably messed around quite often when they shouldn't, but right now, they were all cooperating with each other, listening and talking. She was impressed how well they all seemed to work together and it made her feel better.

"So Laura, what do you think so far?" Paul asked her. "Is there anything you'd like to say?"

She took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. "I'd like to say how grateful I am that you asked me – truly."

"It's us who should be grateful," Paul said.

"Maybe you should wait until you've heard the song until you say that!" Laura joked and they all laughed. "I do have some ideas of my own. The song has to be light hearted, pure pop. It has to appeal to the widest audience we can make it." She glanced around. "I've drafted some bits of music – just some ideas to give us a starting point…"

"Fantastic – can we hear them?"

"Yes - of course."

They all stood to move into the studio and Laura bent down to retrieve her rather heavy briefcase and bag. A hand reached out in her line of vision and took her bag from her.

"I'll carry these," Harry said. He winked at her again and she smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"We're going to need quite a bit of your help," he said as they followed the others. "None of us have written very much before. I'm okay once we have a starting point but I can't seem to write from scratch."

"It can be difficult – sometimes it's like writers block," Laura agreed with him.

"Liam's your guy," Zayn said as he stopped walking and they caught him up.

"Sorry?" Laura wasn't sure what he meant and felt a little anxious where he was going with this.

"Liam. He's the one really into the song writing. He won't admit it, but he's pretty good."

Laura glanced over at Liam who turned to look at them, as if he'd felt their gaze on him. "What?" he asked, looking puzzled and amused.

"Zayn was singing your praises to Laura," Harry said.

Liam's eyes widened. "Oh? Dare I ask what about?"

"You're musical tallents."

Liam shook his head. "Oh – that wouldn't have taken very long then!"

Laura grinned at him. "I've just been told you're the budding song writer?"

"Hardly," Liam answered. He stepped closer. "I wouldn't expect too much."

Laura narrowed her eyes at him. "I detect false modesty."

Liam laughed, his eyes twinkling. "No, you don't."

"I bet you can play the piano," Laura said and Liam sighed.

"Actually, I can, but you've just read that somewhere."

Laura grinned. "Implying that I spend my time swatting up on facts about you?" They'd only just met but somehow, Liam was so easy to talk to that she felt entirely comfortable teasing him.

He gave her a slow, lop sided grin. "I think we're going to get along, Miss Caprice," he said, his head to one side. "Anyway, I don't see the connection between my very low ability piano playing and song writing."

"Okay, they're all set up now, Laura. Are you okay to let us hear what you've brought with you?" Paul interrupted them. Laura nodded at him and then turned back to Liam.

"I'll explain later."

Liam raised his eyebrows but grinned widely at her. "I'll look forward to it."

**Enjoying the story? Let me know.**


	3. Getting into the swing of things

The boys all gathered round to listen intently to the very short and basic music that Laura had brought with her. She'd written a few bars of music in two different styles and she felt a little self conscious as she played along on the piano. When she'd finished the very short rendition, she looked up at her audience nervously.

"Fantastic!" Louis said, clapping his hands. "Fantastic!"

Laura grinned at him. "It's just a start but maybe the first thing to decide is if you like the first one or the second one. The second one is more rocky, although still pop. It depends which was you want to go."

"I vote for the first one," Niall said. "It was great - catchy!"

"Definitely the first one - I loved the start of it," Zayn nodded his head. He let his penetrating eyes meet with Laura's and she felt drawn into them. These boys were dangerous! They all had their own unique charm and when they were all together it was difficult to not spend your entire time sighing.

"Thank you," she managed to reply and Zayn smiled at her.

"Paul?" Harry asked their manager, without giving his own response.

"It's your decision - I think they both sounded great," Paul said. "I suppose the first one had more of a pop feel..."

Laura looked anxiously at Harry and Liam, neither of whom had responded to her yet. "Of course, these are just ideas. We don't have to use them. We can start from scratch if you'd prefer - I'm happy to work on a totally different song with you..." She stopped speaking and gazed at Harry and Liam, both of whom looked back at her.

"You're not seriously thinking we wouldn't like what you've already written?" Harry asked. "I loved both of them!"

Laura grinned, pleased with is response. She didn't want to push Liam into a corner, especially if he was being polite and not telling her what he thought, because he didn't like it, so she turned her eyes away from him.

"I thought the first one was beautiful," Liam's voice came to her and she turned quickly to look at him. His description made her feel a little light headed. Beautiful? He thought her few bars were beautiful.

"Wow - thank you, Liam," she said, trying to sound unflustered.

"We should definitely use that one as a starting point."

The decision seemed universal, so Laura played the bars again. Before she realised it was happening, Liam had moved to sit next to her on the piano stool and she had to shuffle over to let him sit next to her.

"Play it again, please," he asked her, staring at her fingers.

Trying desperately to ignore his proximity, she played it again and then Liam put his fingers on the keys, an octave above her own and mirrored her notes. After two attempts, he'd got it and she lifted her hands, letting him play it himself. Laura found it quite fascinating to watch him as he played, his concentration entirely on the keys. She caught a waft of his cologne and had to bite her lip so as not to keep inhaling deeply. He smelt utterly wonderful - fresh and clean.

When Liam finished the short run of music, he nodded, approvingly. "I really think we can do something amazing with this," he said and again Laura felt a small thrill. It was a huge compliment that Liam Payne, THE Liam Payne loved her music this much.

Paul stood up and smiled. "Fantastic - Laura, I think you're going to be a great addition to our team. I think we are all going to look forward to working with you. I take it you are free for the next few days?"

Laura nodded. "Yes, I cleared my diary for two weeks."

"Brilliant! Come early tomorrow then and we can continue. All the boys are here tomorrow as well so maybe we could have a late lunch - our treat as a thank you?"

Laura smiled. "Yes - that would be lovely."

It wasn't until she got home that the reality of it all hit her. She'd spent an afternoon with One Direction! Really! A whole afternoon! Life was surreal sometimes but this experience was definitely top of the weird and wonderful list!

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''

Laura arrived at 10am the next morning, still feeling slightly nervous but much better than she had yesterday. She had been tempted to keep playing with the song but had stopped herself because this was meant to a collaboration so she couldn't do too much of it alone.

The studio was already buzzing when she walked in. She could see Harry and Louis at the far side of the studio, both with headphones on. They waved at her and grinned, so she waved back. She couldn't see the other boys but there were several other people, she presumed technicians, walking around. Paul and another man she'd seen yesterday were deep in conversation but he waved at her and came straight over.

"Hey, Laura. Here, let me take your bags. What would you like to drink?"

"Oh - show me where the machine is and I'll fetch it myself. I can't expect to be waited on if I'm going to be here a lot over the next few weeks," Laura offered.

Paul smiled. "Okay - if you go back towards the entrance door to the corridor, it's on the right there."

After she'd got a strong coffee, she went back to the studio. As she stepped inside again, she could hear Harry's voice coming through the speakers. Suddenly, it was accompanied by another voice and she glanced over to see Louis providing a harmony for him. It sounded fantastic and Laura listened intently for a moment, enjoying both of their voices and the tune.

"Do you like it?" A voice asked and Laura swung round, spilling her coffee over her hand. Zayn was smiling at her and then he chuckled as she jumped around, shaking her hand and blowing on it. "Was that hot?" he asked.

"What gave you that idea?" Laura asked but she smiled at him.

"Sorry - I didn't mean to sneak up and give you an injury." Zayn grabbed her free hand and looked at it closely. "These hands are precious, we need them to create a masterpiece for us."

Laura laughed. "No pressure on me then?"

"Hey, Laura."

Laura could always tell Niall because of his accent. She smiled at him as he greeted her. "Good morning."

"Don't let the lad flirt with you," Niall said, nodding his head towards Zayn. "You have to watch the quiet ones - especially the quiet ones who already have a girlfriend!"

Zayn grinned over at his friend. "I'm not flirting - just complimenting."

"That was definitely flirting." Another voice, also instantly recognizable to Laura joined the conversation and she turned to see Liam standing just behind her. "Don't let his charm fool you, Laura. He's a player."

Zayn was still grinning, taking the teasing in good humour. "You're mistaking me with Harry."

"Nah," Liam came to stand next to Laura and spoke quietly. "Harry has ladies throwing themselves at him and hasn't learnt how to refuse yet. You," he pointed at Zayn to emphasise his point, "actively encourage it."

Laura was enjoying their banter and decided to join in. "You're not trying to tell me it's only Harry and Zayn who have women throwing themselves at them!"

Liam's lovely eyes met hers and he smirked. "Let's say they get the largest share."

Laura shook her head. "I think you're making that up. If you Google any of you it all seems pretty even to me."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't spend your time swatting up on us?" he challenged her and Laura had to smile. She had said that, hadn't she?

"I've just done some professional research," she protested.

Zayn held his hands out in front of him, as if he was pressing an imaginary keyboard. "Yeah - professional research! One Direction naked..." he said, as if that was what he was typing. He dropped his hands and smiled widely at Laura who couldn't help but grin back. She could hear Liam chuckling to the side of her.

"Very funny!" she said.

"I did warn you that you'd need a sense of humour," Liam said.

Zayn reached out and touched Laura's shoulder gently. "Only kidding, Laura," he said. He looked over towards Harry and Louis. "Looks like they want me - see you in a bit."

Laura dared a glance at Liam and found him looking straight at her. "I've been playing with the tune," he said.

Laura smiled. "Have you? That's great."

"You might not think so when you hear what I've added."

"There you go, being overly modest again."

"I'm not a song writer," Liam insisted. "But I do really enjoy having a go."

Laura turned to him. "Then you are a song writer! That's all you need to start. Just a basic music knowledge and lots of enthusiasm!"

Liam gave her a breathtaking smile. It was warm and sweet and it made her stomach give a little jolt. He was ridiculously handsome, almost too handsome if that were possible. Just to further torture every female within a 50 mile radius, he also had a lovely personality. Funny, confident but also kind.

"I've done all my parts for now, so do you want to hear it?" Liam asked. "The others can come through when they've finished recording."

Laura nodded and followed Liam out of the studio.

**Hi - hope you're enjoying this. It's going to be lighthearted and fun, nothing too serious. If you like it (or even if you don't) please leave a review. Thanks.**


	4. Key Changes

Liam coughed feeling self-conscious. He leant over the piano and placed his fingers on the keys. He played the first few notes and stumbled a little before stopping, clearing his throat again and starting over. The start of the song was the same as Laura had written it, except at the end of the starting bars, Liam added a scale that lead to the next bar. The following notes were sweet and delicate and Liam felt nervous, wondering what Laura would think of his additions.

As the tune repeated, Liam hummed along to it, singing a tune over the bass notes on the piano. He wasn't embarrassed to sing, he'd done it in front of tens of thousands of people, but it did feel slightly strange, suddenly bursting into song in this room, with just one other person, whom he'd only met yesterday. He could see her watching him intently out of the corner of his eye.

The song flowed along and finished suddenly. Obviously this was still only about half the song, just the main tune really. Liam let his fingers stop and then looked over at her, shyly.

"That's it," he said. "That's as far as I got."

Laura smiled widely at him. "It's very catchy - those sixteen or so notes..." Laura stood up and walked over, before gently pushing him along the piano stool so that she could squeeze next to him. She hummed the repeating tune. "Those notes are perfect for getting into your head."

"Not terrible then?" Liam asked.

"Far from terrible - this is how all songs start. They all need a little riff and those notes are this songs riff." Laura put her hands on the keys, seemingly unaware that she was sitting very close to him. Liam watched her as she played a few notes. It was obvious that music could make her forget everything else and he liked that because it had that affect on him as well.

Laura played the sixteen notes perfectly, listening to a tune and then converting it onto a keyboard came naturally to her.

"Wow!" Liam said. She turned to look at him, surprised.

"What?"

"You've heard it once and now you can play it!"

Laura grinned at his admiration. "It's what I do," she explained, modestly. "Can you play it from the beginning again?"

Liam took a long breath, gave her one last glance and then placed his hands on the keys. He began again but as he reached the scale and moved onto the part he had added, Laura lifted his left hand from the keyboard and looked at him.

"Carry on – just with that hand."

Liam did as she instructed, frowning with puzzlement but listening to how the tune changed without a bass line.

"Now move your hand up an octave….." Laura instructed.

Again Liam glanced at her, still puzzled, but he did as she instructed. Suddenly, his simple tune sounded really different. The bass line had distracted from the top notes and now it was higher up the scale, the notes really sounded lilting. He finished the few bars and then stopped and turned to Laura.

"Bloody hell! That sounds amazing," he said.

Laura grinned at him. "You were over-elaborating it," she explained. "You were spoiling the simple tune – the notes are beautiful and they were being masked."

"How the hell do you know this?"

"Practise, trial and error…" Laura shrugged and then grinned. "Oh, and my general brilliance, of course!"

Liam chuckled. He liked her sense of humour a lot. "Okay – can you apply some of your brilliance to the rest of it?" he joked and he was pleased to see her grin at him.

She leant closer to him and played the start of the tune again. The notes were high up the keyboard and she was having to lean across him. Liam was acutely aware of her but she seemed oblivious to him. She was concentrating, playing the keys from memory, just missing one note and then she went into the next section, humming the tune as Liam had done and playing with the keys.

"The next part, which will be the bridge, should focus on your singing with that repeating riff running underneath." Laura played the riff and then hummed over it. She hummed the first line over a few times, changing the chords and moving a few high notes. She then back tracked and played from the beginning again, this time with her changes.

When she finished and turned to look at Liam, who couldn't stop himself from gaping at her.

"You make it seem so easy," he said. "Right, I want to learn that part so that I can play it to the rest of them when they join us."

Laura played it again and Liam joined her half way through. She slowed down the new part and kept repeating without him having to ask her, allowing him to slowly learn it. She then stopped playing and indicated that he should play it from the beginning.

Liam started again, this time on his own and found himself getting dragged into the music, his enthusiasm taking hold of him. When he'd played it all the way through once again, Laura placed her hands again on the keys.

The door burst open and Harry and Zayn came in. Zayn came straight over and looked at them both sharing the piano stool.

"That sounded great - have you written some more?" he asked.

"Liam has," Laura said and Liam shook his head.

"No - it was definitely a joint effort," he insisted.

The door opened again and Louis arrived, followed by Niall.

"How's it going?" Louis asked.

"We've written a bit more," Liam explained.

"So lets hear it then."

Liam looked at Laura who looked directly back at him. "I hope you're not expecting me to play it," she said, grinning at him cheekily. "I'm not in the most famous boy band in the world."

Liam couldn't help but chuckle again at her. He was finding her captivating. She was fun and he liked the way she really cared about her music. It didn't hurt that she was also exceptionally pretty. Her hair was tickling his arm but he didn't bother moving away - he was enjoying being this close to her. "Let's play it together?" he suggested, not feeling confident enough to play it to the others.

"Okay," Laura agreed and he was surprised that she didn't protest more. She was looking at him, her eyes meeting his, her lips curving up slightly at the edges and he found himself staring straight back at her, something about her expression made him want to grin from ear to ear. She was so easy to get along with, he felt as if he'd known her forever. She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear and Liam found himself watching her movements.

He then realised that everyone was watching them and turned away, clearing his throat. He saw Zayn raise one eyebrow in his direction but ignored him.

They began the tune again, playing together now. Liam wasn't quite sure how this was happening but somehow they were playing harmonies and the tune without having to discuss it. It was almost instinctive. They reached the end and faced the other band members.

"That was fantastic!" Harry gushed. "You've just written that?"

"It sounded great - do you write words as well?" Niall asked Laura.

"Sometimes - some artists prefer to do that themselves."

"Play it again," Zayn asked.

Liam glanced at Laura who was still grinning and they began playing again. He now felt more confident with the tune and began to relax, his fingers moving more smoothly. A couple of lyrics jumped into his head and he sang along in his head.

Suddenly, their fingers went for the same keys and brushed each other. Liam felt an instant rush of something and went to move his fingers away, unsure how to react, but Laura's small fingers moved again, her hand covering his. He glanced quickly at her and she was looking down at the keyboard but smiling widely. The music faltered as Liam lost his place and he heard Laura chuckle.

"Keep going - you can't let anything distract you," she teased.

Liam saw Harry and Louis grinning at him, enjoying Laura's gentle teasing of him, so he tried to ignore the feeling of their hands touching and continue to play. The problem now was that his heart was racing and his mind seemed to be unable to register what the next note was.

"She won't keep her hands to herself," he said with a grin and the other boys all laughed.

"And you're complaining because?" Harry asked, making everyone laugh again.

Laura was taking all of this in good humour. "I'm testing his piano skills."

Liam laughed and began playing more quickly. Laura joined in with his new faster pace, their fingers moving rapidly on the keys until they touched again and they both laughed. Liam grabbed her hand, covering it with his in the same way she had. Laura missed a few notes and Liam laughed - the other boys were still watching them with amused expressions on their faces.

"Ouch!" he gasped as Laura elbowed him in the ribs. They were losing the tune now and they both giggled as their nudging and pushing escalated. The other boys were laughing at them and finally Liam had to stop - unable to play whilst laughing so much.

When he turned to Laura she was really laughing as well. "Sorry - I'm impressed how long you managed to keep that up," she said, wiping her eyes.

"I'd have grabbed you and kissed you!" Harry said and Laura rolled her eyes at him. Liam was pleased to see her handle Harry's flirting so easily, especially when she answered him.

"I would have carried on playing."

Harry smiled widely at her. "I look forward to testing the theory!" he said and Laura raised her eyebrows at him.

"Harry - can you play the piano?"

"Errr...no but that won't stop me."

Liam watched this exchange with interest but somehow it didn't bother him. Harry was flirting like crazy but Laura seemed to be able to handle him. He didn't bother to analyse it but he was glad she wasn't flirting back.

**If you read this and like it - leave a comment - that'd be great!**


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